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The son of a bookseller, Jacques Anatole Franois Thibault (1844-1924) spent most of his life around books. His father's bookstore was called the Librairie de France, and from this name he took his nom-de plume, Anatole France.

Author Bio

Anatole France

Anatole France was the son of a bookseller, which may explain his precocious love for books and letters. While he did not excel at school, he did find work at "Le Parnasse Contemporain", a Parisian literary magazine, which also published his poetry. After university, he also worked as a publisher's reader, then in a library. In 1877, he married Val?rie Gu?rin de Sauville, and two years later his first collection of stories was published. His marriage ended in divorce in 1893, and France was elected to the Acad?mie Fran?aise in 1896. In the late 1800s, he grew quite well known as a critic, and in the 1880s he began writing novels and stories. In 1920, he married his housekeeper, Emma Lepr?votte; he died three years later at his home near Tours at the age of 80. In the 1920s, because of his skepticism and his Communist leanings, France's writings were put on the Index of Forbidden Books of the Roman Catholic Church. Elected to the Acad?mie Fran?aise, France was also a Nobel laureate; but his reputation suffered a decline after his death in 1924 with the advent of symbolism, surrealism, and radicalism.